Life's Trials
by lovelyja
Summary: Although originally the team aren't too pleased to be going to a not-so-usual team building course, their feelings soon change as a series of events cause each member to look at things a different way. Building H/P!
1. Chapter 1

**So this story is kind of different from my other Criminal Minds fic 'Uncovered Nightmares'. If you haven't read it go check it out *Motions with hands***

**I'm pretty sure that there aren't any stories like this one, I'm not going to go into detail, so you're going to have to find out for yourself:)**

**Enjoy reading**

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Chapter 1

"JJ, can you assemble everyone in my office in five minutes?" Hotch called out to her from his high viewpoint over the bullpen.

"Sure." The blonde agent replied, nodding as she turned to inform the team who were currently refueling on precious coffee at the kitchenette in the corner.

"Guys? Hotch wants us in his office in five." She told them as she walked over.

"Do we have another case?" Prentiss asked with an air of confusion. Doesn't JJ usually arrange them instead of Hotch? JJ shook her head.

"I'm in the dark as much as you guys are on this one." She confirmed.

"Alright, then." Morgan muttered as he sipped his hot drink.

Everyone was standing around in Hotch's office waiting for him to arrive and explain what this was about.

"Is this something about our last case?" Morgan thought out loud. Although the team was successful in finding the killer of twelve women, they weren't able to stop him from committing suicide by cop and taking another woman down with him.

"I don't think so or he would have said something in the de-brief." Reid frowned, but talking ceased immediately as Hotch opened the door and stepped inside, taking a seat at his desk.

"Is this about a case?" Rossi inquired to the steely gaze of their superior, who took a few seconds to respond.

"No, I got an email from Strauss. We are attending a team-building course next week. Mandatory attendance." The team were not pleased.

Actually, from the looks on their faces that was like calling the Grand Canyon a ditch – a major understatement.

"You're kidding, right?" Morgan asked somewhat hopefully.

"No, I'm not." Hotch sighed, running his hand down his face; even he was not too thrilled by the thought.

"What if a case comes up?" Reid asked, suddenly raising the team's spirits a little.

"Then it will be assigned to another team. I expect to see everyone here on Monday morning at 7am for the drive down there and we won't be returning until the following Monday. We will be on desk duty until then." Hotch said, well and truly deflating everyone's mood, before he gave them a sincere nod and left the room.

"Great." Prentiss moaned and everyone agreed dutifully.

Much to the chagrin of the team, Monday rolled around all too quickly. With a lot of tired faces and many a cup of coffee they assembled in the bullpen waiting for further instruction from their unit chief at 7am. Hotch emerged from his office carrying a hold all and rucksack with a grim expression on his usually stoic face.

Everyone looked up expectantly as he walked down the steps before handing out a flyer to each of them. Displayed across the front was:

**Rocky Heights: A team building experience to bring you closer to the mountains and each other.**

Rossi did a double take at the picture splayed across the front.

"We're going horseback riding?" He asked Hotch in disbelief and Prentiss' eyes widened in surprise.

"What?" She demanded with the same air of astonishment.

"Unfortunately yes," Hotch told them, "However, we have been assigned to this by the bureau and I'm afraid there's nothing-" He was cut short by Agent Prentiss.

"No, I love horseback riding! Thank god! I thought this was going to be terrible, but now…" She trailed off, lost for words to say.

"You horseback ride?" Morgan turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it was the one thing that my mother forced me to do that I actually enjoyed." She smiled as she answered.

"Anyway," Hotch interrupted before anymore conversation could ensue, "It's a long drive, so we'd best be going." Everyone bar Emily sighed at this notion as they picked up their luggage and headed out towards the two SUV's that were waiting in the parking complex attached to the building. They split off into the two cars, Morgan, Prentiss and JJ in one, with Hotch, Rossi and Reid in the other.

Once they were on the road Derek broke the comfortable silence that had settled in the vehicle.

"So Prentiss, what have we gotten ourselves into?" Morgan asked her and Emily's eyes lit up at the prospect of being able to ride again – She hadn't had the chance since she'd moved back to the city.

"It's amazing. My mother controlled pretty much everything in my life, but when I was riding I was the one in control. You know what I mean?" She looked over to him.

"Yeah, I understand." Morgan knew what it meant to want to control the things that happened in life from a young age, "What do you think, JJ?" He looked towards the back of the vehicle for a second before placing his eyes firmly on the road ahead again.

"Oh, I always wanted to try it when I was younger, but I'm more excited about the prospect of seeing Hotch on a horse." She laughed at this unusual image and the other two joined in.

Meanwhile, in the other SUV, Rossi and Hotch were calmly discussing the benefits this team-building course could have on the team.

"Did you know that a 2002 study suggested that riders received 1 injury per 100 hours for leisure riding, 1 injury per 5 hours for amateur racing with jumps, and 1 injury per 1 hours riding when participating in cross country jumping. " Reid interjected, slightly anxious of the activities ahead.

"As interesting as that prospect is, I'm not sure any of us will be cross country jumping any time soon." Hotch reassured the younger agent.

"Emily does." Rossi told them, then looked up to see their surprised faces at the snippet of information that they hadn't heard, "What? She told me on the walk from the elevator." Shaking his head slightly, Hotch refocused his eyes on the SUV on the road ahead of him.

"I think we're here." Morgan announced as they drove under a sign spelling out Rocky Heights, before parking the car outside the little building labeled Reception.

The area wasn't too populated – trees and a couple of mountains filled most of the landscape, although there were a couple of buildings through the trees, but no one was really sure if they were owned by Rocky Heights or not. Everybody got out of the vehicles and stretched their limbs whilst Hotch went inside to inform someone that they had arrived. He soon walked out again and was followed by a smiley brunette woman in her mid-forties.

"Hello, and welcome to Rocky Heights. My name is Rita and me and my husband Ray own the place." She greeted them cheerfully, "I take it you guessed by now that we're all about horseback riding? We'll settle you in tonight and you can all meet your mounts tomorrow morning."

Although Morgan wasn't really too sure of what to think about this horseback riding business, Emily told him how she felt and he trusted her judgment – though he wouldn't care to admit it to her – so he was willing to give it a go.

"Hi, I'm Emily," Prentiss introduced herself, too captivated deal with niceties to introduce the others, "What type of riding do you do here? English or Western?"

"English, although we do use the trails up into the mountains, Ray and I used to compete so we have all of the English facilities such as a dressage arena and cross country course." Reid gulped. "But enough of that now, let me show you to your cabin where you can freshen up." She began walking away from the reception and down a little path surrounded by trees and the team followed.

"Cabin? As in just one?" Morgan asked her.

"Yes, we believe that it helps the team to bond better, sleeping under the same roof." Rita confirmed, and Morgan looked a little downcast, but before he could reply Rita stopped and gestured to the building beside her.

"Here we are. You have about a half hour before dinner. I assume you can find your way back to the reception for then?" After a swift nod from Hotch she left the group looking a little apprehensive outside the log cabin.

"What are we waiting for?" JJ prompted the group into action and they shuffled into the building, each of them racing to get a top bunk. Unfortunately for Reid, he was too slow and got the one right next to the bathroom.

"This is like camp all over again…" He muttered to himself.

"Cheer up, Reid. It'll be great fun tomorrow." Prentiss pointed out to him, but before he could recite his interesting fact from earlier Hotch spoke.

"Why don't we take a look around before dinner? It'll be nice to stretch our legs after the journey." After everyone readily agreed, they stepped out of the cabin.

Around two hours later the group returned to their cabin, eyelids heavy and stomachs full of Rays barbequed hamburgers. Each of them took it in turns to use the bathroom and change before getting into their bunks, some of them more looking forward to the next morning than others.

Although it had been a while, Emily was sure that she would pick up on her riding exactly where she left off. As she lay in her bed she stared up at the ceiling above her as her thoughts wandered to the hours and hours of time she used to spend at various barns across the world as she travelled with her parents. Even though she always moved to a new place where she didn't know anyone or anything, it always comforted her how no matter what country they were in every single barn smelled exactly the same. If she hadn't been able to carry these securities around with her she was pretty sure she wouldn't have handled her situation as well as she had done – well it would have gone a lot worse, anyway.

Most people live under the impression that home is where the heart is, or where their family are at the time, but since she couldn't really call anything her house, even, for more than a coupe of months at a time a young Emily Prentiss hadn't had these luxuries. Sure, she was grateful for the opportunities that she'd had, but it was nice for a young girl to find peace in the only place that she was accepted. It was this thought that she kept with her as she drifted off into a restful sleep.

Each of the profilers awoke to the sound of knocking on the cabin door and Hotch got out of bed to answer in knowing that there was more of a chance of a snowball in hell than one of the others answering the door.

"Hey Rita." He greeted the once again cheerful woman.

_Why was she always smiling? _

"Morning. Breakfast is in thirty, and I have your riding gear right here." She pointed to the pile of helmets, pants and boots on the porch beside her.

"Erm… Thanks." Hotch replied, eyeing the clothing.

"Great, just get changed and meet us down at reception. See you then." She waved goodbye and walked off, leaving a tired Hotch to lug all of the gear into the cabin.

"What's that?" Morgan mumbled as he rubbed sleep from his eyes and Hotch looked down at him apologetically.

"Our clothing." Morgan's face fell.

"You gotta be kidding me, Hotch? Those look like girl pants." He complained, indicating to the offending clothing.

"They're called jodhpurs." Emily told the team, who were all relatively awake by now.

"Whatever." Derek shook his head as he grabbed a pair and stalked to the bathroom to change.

The team were now changed and ready for the day ahead, having already eaten breakfast. Rita and Ray were leading them towards the barn to meet their horses for the week.

"Okay, so I'll read out what your horses names are and you can go find them." Rita instructed, "David – Prince, Derek – Drummer, Jennifer – Scooby, Aaron – Bobby, Spencer – Freddie and Emily – Ping. Emily, your horse is a little more advanced due to you experience, but the rest of you have very quiet mounts." She added as they filed off into the rustic farm building to find their horses.

"Hey Reid, do you have a spare body brush?" Prentiss asked before looking into his horses stall, "Reid..." She looked at him who was standing next to the door, not touching his horse and eyeing it as if it could attack him at any given moment.

"He's really big." He squeaked and Emily took pity on him.

"Come here." She stepped into the stall and took his hand and nudged him forwards until he was touching Freddie, "See, he's not that bad."

"I guess he's kinda cute." Reid admitted as Prentiss walked out with one of his brushes chuckling to herself. This was the most relaxed she had been in a while and she was going to enjoy this time while she had it.

"And this is the bit." Ray pointed out the metal part of the bridle that went in the horse's mouth to the team, who had to learn how to tack up their own horses. Although Prentiss already knew how to do this it couldn't hurt to have a refresher and help her team if they got stuck, Rita had pointed out, "You slot in in their mouth like this and do up all of these straps." He showed them how it was done and the team tried to soak in as much info as possible, although Ray had told them it usually took a couple of tries to get right.

"And that's how it's done." Rita clapped her hands together once, and then gestured to the room behind her, "All of the saddles and bridles are in there marked clearly with your horse's name. If you need any help do not hesitate to ask me, Ray or Emily."

As the team spread out to their respective stalls Rita watched the team interact with each other. She was surprised that the seasoned profilers were not aware of the physical attraction between two of their team members, however it was clear by the lack of friendly conversation between the two that they rarely spoke about anything other than work related subjects. Just then, JJ called out to her for help as she'd somehow managed to put the saddle on backwards and Scooby didn't seem too pleased about that.

After Emily had successfully sorted out the mess that Rossi had made with his horse's bridle she finally got around to tacking up her own horse, Ping. As she placed the bridle over the horses head it was clear that he was definitely not as docile as the other team member's horses, however Emily wasn't phased by his behavior because she was used to riding the more excitable ones. Just as she led him out to the arena where they were going to have their first lesson and get to know their horses a little Emily inspected her team member's faces. Obviously some were more happy to be here than others.

"Wow, Prentiss, you got your hands full over there." Morgan exclaimed under his breath as Ping skittered to the side every couple of steps, his eyes rolling, clearly ready to go. Emily gave him a grin as she tightened the safety strap of her helmet.

"Don't worry about it, he'll settle down soon enough." She reassured him, however she was clearly as excited and ready to go as her chestnut mount was.

"Rather you than me." Morgan countered as Ray helped him up onto his brown horse, Drummer. Now that everyone was mounted Rita ran through the basics to steering and handling the horses and they were soon circling the arena in a line, with Prentiss at the front.

"Okay everybody, I want you to all watch Emily tell Ping to trot and circle round to the back. It may look simple, but it is much harder than it looks on your first turn. Okay, Emily, off you go." She instructed and Ping responded immediately, picking up trot, but jumped to the side a little when a bird came across his path. JJ gasped, concerned for her friends safety as the horse began to shake it head around, but Emily had seen it all before and soon had him in control.

"Well done. Don't worry everyone, the horses you are on are bombproof compared to Ping, so you'll be fine." She assured them as one look at Reid's face showed her how much he was dreading his turn.

"Okay, Derek. Off you go." Ray encouraged Morgan, who immediately picked up the pace, but began to wobble a little as he underestimated the difficulty of simply not bouncing out of the saddle. He looked slightly relieved when he finally came back to a walk behind Prentiss, but the other team members were too caught up in riding their horses right before taking into account anyone else.

The others also managed to get around the arena without any casualties, just as Rita had promised and looked pleased with themselves.

Emily thought that Hotch and Bobby made a good team, granted that this was Hotch's first time on a horse.

That she knew of…

Come to think of it he seemed to be doing really well for someone who had never ridden before. He hadn't needed any help with tacking up or anything… In fact, he managed to ride Bobby around the arena with more dignity than the other team members put together. Emily pushed these thoughts aside as Rita started to speak, but made a mental note to bring it up with him later on.

"That was great, everyone. We'll practice our trotting a little more, but if it's okay with you, Emily will progress to canter." The team nodded, seemingly pleased that they weren't going to try anything faster just for the time being, "Okay, Emily. The arena isn't quite big enough to canter for a long enough period of time to settle Ping into his rhythm, so if everyone just stops for a second, you can circle at the end a couple of times."

Emily waited for the rest of the team to stop their horses before picking up the reins and asking Ping to trot forwards. They soon came to a corner and she asked Ping to canter and he did exactly that, raring to go. Emily had him in control, but when they neared Hotch's horse, Bobby, Ping let out an almighty buck, then another, then another. Everyone in the arena held their breath as Ping seemed to explode into action.

"Holy crap." Rossi whispered to himself. At first Emily was taken by surprise, but she soon regained her balanced and managed to stop the horse.

"God, Prentiss, it's like you have Velcro on your ass." Morgan chuckled, surprised at how easily Emily managed to stay in the saddle.

"It all comes with experience." Rita told the group after hearing Derek's comment.

It seemed too soon when Ray was telling them to dismount their horses and give them a pat. Soon the team were left alone to care for their horses.

"God, Em, did that not freak you out even a little?" Rossi asked her and everyone else listened in for her answer.

"No way!" Emily exclaimed, chuckling, "When I was fourteen I was jumping a horse over a fence and he bailed at the last minute. I flipped over his shoulder and landed on the fence. Ping was nothing, trust me."

"Ouch!" JJ said, "Did that not hurt?"

"My mother insisted I was fine and blamed the instructor, but she finally took me to the hospital and three cracked ribs begged to differ." She laughed when Reid cringed.

"How come we never knew you liked this kind of stuff?" Morgan asked her as they all began walking their horses back to the stables.

"It never came up I guess." She shrugged noncommittally, "Good luck for tomorrow, by the way." This time she spoke to the whole group.

"Why?" JJ questioned, confused.

"It takes some getting used to. You won't even be able to get out of bed in the morning." She chuckled at the mock faces of annoyance that spread across the team's features.

"You wait and see, Prentiss." Morgan teased before leading Drummer into his stall.

"My legs feel like Jell-O." JJ complained as she took a seat at the worn oak table with her colleagues for lunch.

"Join the club." Rossi mumbled into his drink.

"Guys, come on. It's not that bad." Emily encouraged them.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I did enjoy myself this morning." Hotch said and the others nodded in agreement. Emily's smile brightened.

"Good to hear it." Rita had walked into the room without anyone realizing, "We'll have another lesson in the school today to make sure you've got everything and then we'll do some team building tomorrow." She finished before setting down a bowl of bread rolls on the table.

"Thank you." Hotch said, his words laced with double meaning. Sure, the rolls were nice, but the team, including himself, hadn't acted too grateful to the woman and her husband for their hospitality – well, except Emily. He mentally rolled his eyes.

Wait. When did he start calling Agent Prentiss by her first name? Was it just a one time thing or had he been doing it a while without realizing? Shaking his head slightly at his thoughts he carried on eating his food, only half listening to the teasing of Dr. Reid that was going on around him.

"What about you Morgan?" Emily tipped her heard towards him, "What do you think of the 'girl pants'?" She chuckled at Morgan's mock irritation as he drained his mug of coffee.

"Okay, they're pretty comfortable, but don't expect me to turn up at the office in them." Even Hotch chuckled at this mental image.

"Hey, well you're lucky yours are black – I have a hot pink pair somewhere at home." Emily pointed out, and although the team laughed at her joke, it was actually true, granted that they'd never seen daylight and never will. It's quite safe to say that she'd rather be boiled alive in a vat of turkey fat than wear those out in public.

"I think you can keep those." He teased. She saw that Hotch was listening to their banter and the edges of his eyes crinkled as he smiled.

Since when was she so aware of her boss?

"So, Hotch, you did pretty good out there, care to share?" Emily hinted at him, smiling.

"I've ridden before if that's what you mean." He admitted to the group who looked surprisingly at him, all of them apart from Emily.

"I thought so!" She shot at him jokingly. _No way could someone learn that quickly, _"How long?"

"How long what?" His eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Have you been riding?" She answered with a question.

"Since I was younger. I used to compete in Eventing." Emily's eyes widened.

"No way! That's what I do too!" _huh, _Emily thought. _What are the chances of that happening? Small world._

Since when did she have so much in _common _with her boss?

Shrugging off her concerns, she stood up ready to prepare herself to go to the barn and the rest of the team followed her lead as they finished up.

There was one thing that Emily was sure of as she began to groom Ping in his stall – now that she'd reconnected with this part of her life she sure as hell wasn't letting go of it again.

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**Let me know what you think! What you did like / what you didn't like / what you would like to see - anything helps.****It may not seem like it, but this does have a plot developing, so stick with it. I hope I got all of the typo's, but forgive me if I didn't, because I don't have a beta. I didn't add too much detail about the actual horseback riding (well i tried not to anyway) so it's easy to understand even if you are a non-equestrian:) Any reviews really do make my entire week, they really do, they only take about a minute of your lifetime, and lets face it, if you couldn't waste a minute to review you wouldn't be here, would you? I didn't think so;)**

**Until next time (Maybe)**


	2. Chapter 2

**You guys learn fast, flattery gets you everywhere! I spent most of yesterday writing this and some of today because my muse went on vacation, but I ploughed through it. Do you know how to reward me for my hard work? Yes, that is correct! With a review!**

**WARNING!" Major cuteness going on here! I'm not sure if I should be disgusted at the level of cuteness in this chapter or not tbh:L**

**Read on:... And Review:...**

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Chapter 2

Emily laid in bed consumed in her thoughts. The team would be waking up soon, so she savored these few moments that she had to herself. Yesterday Rita had given Hotch a new horse called Midnight, because this one was more suitable for his abilities. Apparently her and Hotch were on equal footing on the ability department. Who would have thought…?

Anyway, she mentally shook her head, that didn't matter now. At least her and Hotch had something in common to talk about.

Emily stifled a groan as she sat up in her bunk and rolled her shoulders, trying to work out the stiffness in them. She should be thankful, though. Apart from Hotch everyone else was going to be a hell of a lot more sore than she was. She smirked to herself as she jumped down from the top bunk and went to the bathroom before waking the others up. At least this way she was guaranteed the hot water. Eh... Emily shrugged. You snooze you lose.

"Guys, wake up!" She called as she emerged from the bathroom, only to be greeted with a roomful of moans.

"I don't think I can get up." JJ complained, "I didn't even know these muscles in my legs existed! How do you and Hotch manage?!" Emily and Hotch exchanged a look and chuckled to themselves, Hotch flashing Emily a smile.

_God, those dimples!_

"You'll get used to it Jayje," Emily consoled her friend, "Come here." She held out her hands and pulled the blonde up slowly, trying not to laugh as she did so at the un-amused face the woman was pulling, that amused her nonetheless.

Hotch jumped out of bed to get to the bathroom first, but it's not like he had much competition. Everyone else was trying to get used to the feeling that their legs hadn't fallen off in the night, even though they didn't seem to be working to get them out of bed. Hotch rolled his eyes as he started the water running, if they weren't up by the time he's done, he'll just get Emily to grab a bucket from Rita and they could fill it with water… Nothing like a face full of ice-cold water to get you going in the morning.

"Me and Ray have something special planned for today." Rita smiled at the group, who had finally managed to get out of bed. Unfortunately for Hotch they managed to do it before he got out of the bathroom…

"We'll be splitting off into three teams. Emily and Aaron will be one team, because they are experienced enough to go on their own, and the rest of you can split off into pairs and either Rita or me will ride with you. Basically, you'll be going on a scavenger hunt of the Rocky Heights area. Each team will be given a map of the site and the location of the first clue. I think that's pretty much it… Oh, the last team to put their horses in their stalls have to cook the dinner tonight and clean up!" Ray told them.

"And don't forget to have fun!" Rita added almost cheesily, "Lets go tack up and go."

Horseback riding and getting paired with Hotch? For Emily the week kept getting better and better. Although she knew she had to keep her feelings to herself, Emily was glad that she wasn't in denial about them anymore.

"Hotch, you ready?" Emily called over the stall door as she pulled on her riding hat, "The quicker we get ready the quicker we can go and win!"

"Yeah, I'm ready!" He called back, holding back a grin at her excitement.

"You two have an unfair advantage." Morgan complained.

"Oh, don't go getting your little girl pants in a twist – you're just scared to get beaten." She flashed a grin as she walked past with Ping, Hotch and Midnight following on behind.

"Well, you can't disagree with that logic." Hotch pointed out as they both mounted from the ground onto their horses.

"Of course not, Sir." They both smirked as they set off just as the others started to come out of the barn, "So, where are we headed first?" She looked at him, who was studying the map one handedly.

"Straight ahead, to the arena, I think." He answered.

"Okay." She answered absentmindedly, "So, why were you holding out on us, Hotch?" He looked up at her.

"I could ask you the same thing." He retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, I worked my way up the ranks pretty quickly and used to compete at four star level, but you know what my mother is like. Apparently it got in the way of my work."

"I understand." It went quiet for a couple of minutes as they made their way towards the arena.

"What do the clues actually look like?" Emily frowned and turned to Hotch who shrugged.

"I think I see it." He rode forwards a bit faster and picked an envelope off of the arena gate. Opening it up, he read the clue aloud. "I grow up big and tall and lose my clothes in the fall. There are lots of me though, so don't get confused: I'm the biggest of them all."

They both sat there for a minute, weighing up their ideas.

"Wait… Lose my clothes in the fall… A tree!" Emily shouted out.

"Yes! Which one looks the biggest?" Hotch asked and they both looked around before Emily pointed into the distance.

"That one?" She looked at him.

"Yeah, lets go." They gathered up their reins and set off at a fast trot to warm up their horses.

Once they'd picked up speed they were soon cantering towards their destination, the horses happy to let off some steam that had built up from months walking and trotting with the beginner riders, or being ridden by Rita or Ray.

Despite earlier thoughts, Hotch was really enjoying himself. He hadn't had a chance to ride like this in a long time and there was nothing more timeless that cantering through open fields and forest.

"Hey, that's not fair!" Morgan called out as Hotch and Prentiss whizzed past them, who were only going at a steady trot.

"Don't worry," Rita winked at him and JJ, "They have a couple extra clues." JJ and him chuckled.

"Man, I like the way you think." Morgan told the woman.

Hotch and Prentiss were still laughing slightly as they pulled up near the tree they were heading for.

"Where about do you think the next clue is? Rita said that they would be quite hard to find." Emily said distractedly as her eyes searched the tree before her.

"Lets take a look." Hotch dismounted and Emily did the same, holding Midnights reins as he went to inspect the tree.

"Lets see…" Hotch put his hand in a hole in the trunk of the tree, "Aha!" He shouted as he successfully pulled out an envelope.

"What does it say?" Emily asked as he opened it up.

"What always runs but never walks, often murmurs but never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats."

"That makes a lot of sense." Emily said, dry with sarcasm as Hotch took back his reins and they both mounted again, "Wait. Is there a river near here?" She asked, and Hotch pulled out the map.

"Yep, and it all fits. This way."

"Who plays scavenger hunt with profilers?" Emily murmured as they trotted away.

The two profilers had been walking along the edge of the river for a while now and their search had come up short.

"I don't get it." Emily complained, "The clue fits, but I can't find it."

"It's definitely not alongside the river if that's what you mean." Hotch said pointedly and then raised his eyebrows, indicating to the running water next to them. Emily's eyes widened.

"Uh-uh. No way." She said, catching on to what he was getting at.

"Hey, I got the last two clues, so it is your turn." Hotch pointed out, the corners of his mouth turned up a little.

"Fine." Emily said, not amused as she pulled off her riding boots, "But you owe me big on this."

"Sure, of course." Hotch replied, saying anything to make Emily feel better. He tied the horses to a nearby fence for the time being so he could help direct his colleague. Prentiss stepped into the icy current and immediately began upturning rocks, but found nothing.

"Hey, you missed one." Hotch told her, incredibly amused by the situation.

"Yeah, I got it." She shot back at him. Her tone was not amused. Just as she was leaning over to overturn the rock her foot slipped on some of the slimy plants growing in the water. She instantly lost her balance and splashed down into the water below. Although the water was only up to her knees when she was standing she was completely drenched.

"Be careful." Hotch told her, now unable to keep the amusement from his voice and began to chuckle.

"Oh, ha ha." She retorted sarcastically as she pulled her limbs beneath her in an attempt to stand, but came crashing back down again as she slipped on yet more weeds.

"Let me help you." Hotch offered as he pulled off his boots, too. After quickly making his way over to his fallen colleague he held out his hands, only to be pulled down with her into the water.

"Be careful, Hotch." Emily patronized him, now seeing the more funny side of the situation, but received a playful scowl in return. After some time they'd somehow managed to stand and, this time more slowly, made their way back to the bank of the river. They both collapsed onto the grassy floor.

"No way!" Emily exclaimed unexpectedly, making Hotch look up at her from putting his boots on.

"What? What's wrong?" He asked with a frown.

"Look." She reached into the bush she was next to and pulled out an envelope. Hotch snorted in disbelief, but his mouth turned up into a smile. They smirked at one another, then began laughing hysterically.

"We should probably go." Emily said, finally stopping the laughter whilst she wiped the tears forming in her eyes.

"What does the clue say?" Hotch asked, raising his eyebrows and once again flashing his dimples. _My god._

"Oh, right." She stuttered, "Yer porch may be where it all begins. Open the door and you may be let in."

"Isn't that just a front porch?" Hotch turned a confused face to her.

"Sounds like it." She sat there for a moment and pulled on her boots while Hotch stood up.

"Here," He offered, holding out his hands and helped her up.

"Thanks…" Emily said; she looked down at the ground and bit her lip, "God, what do we look like?" She chuckled, indicating to the sodden forms of herself and Hotch.

"Probably like we fell in the river actually." Emily looked up and smirked at him, they both turned and walked back towards their horses, who were happily grazing where they'd been left.

They mounted and Emily had to pull Ping's head up to stop him from eating.

"Enough of that." She scolded.

"Once, when I was a kid, there was this little pony that used to stop in the middle of cantering and put it's head down for some grass and I always flew over his head. Every damn time." He laughed slightly at the memory.

"You're kidding." Emily said, smiling, "I never had a pony as a kid. Mother wanted me to always look my best so she bought the worst horses with the best kind of breeding. I ended up trading at some stables with the kids my age that were a little too big for their boots that thought they could handle it… That's a lesson that you only need to be taught once."

"True." He said, flashing his dimples again.

As they were walking Hotch looked over to the woman beside him. Before, because of him and Hayley, he'd never really been that aware of her, but now he was noticing things that he'd never seen before. Of course, he always knew she was beautiful, but this time it was different. The way she looked down and bit her lip when she was embarrassed, how her hair was incredibly dark but had hints of red and mahogany when you caught it in the right light.

Emily felt his eyes on her and looked up, and Hotch looked away, his cheeks flushed.

"Hotch?" She asked.

"Call me Aaron, Prentiss, we're not at work." Hotch said, looking her in the eye. But they weren't cold and stern; they were welcoming and warm.

"Okay, _Aaron_," She emphasized and made him smile, "As long as you call me Emily."

"Deal." _All the time._ He bit back another smile, god he felt like a grinning idiot today.

"Hey, look." Emily suddenly said, pointing out a fallen tree in the path, "Do you want to…" She raised her eyebrows.

"Why not." Hotch shrugged his shoulders and transitioned to canter, neatly popping over the half-meter log, Emily soon behind him.

"Man, that felt good, I haven't jumped in a while. We'll have to see if we can get a run around the cross-country course."

"hmmm." Aaron hummed in agreement.

"Is everything alright?" Emily looked over at him – seeing that he was distracted.

"Yeah, it's nothing." _It's not nothing. I can't just tell her how I feel._

"Okay, if you're sure." _It's definitely something._

A while later they finally reached the front of the team's cabin. Hotch dismounted and handed his reins to Emily and began to poke around the porch.

"Aaron," Emily called, it felt strange to call him that, but right somehow, "Check under the mat." And sure enough, Hotch held up another envelope.

"I wave all day but never tire, at the end of the day I retire." Both of the agents frowned, and Hotch pulled out the map before searching it intently.

"I knew it!" He exclaimed before quickly mounting again.

"What is it?"

"There's a flag by the entrance." He confirmed.

"Lets go." They cantered off determinedly.

"Now this race is nearly done, lets have one last piece of fun. Quick! Get your friend in his stable, or later you'll be holding the ladle." Emily read out the clue. Without another word they both quickly mounted and cantered towards their destination down the long winding driveway.

Determined not to finish last they raced side-by-side, picking up speed over the ground. Due to their obvious speed, neither of them noticed the muddy track until the horses began to slip on the slimy surface.

"Woah." Emily tried to calm Ping, who panicked when he had no traction and began moving even faster. Her efforts were wasted as her horse slipped and came crashing down onto the mud, bringing her with him. Ping jumped back up instantly and was unharmed, but his nostrils were flared and his eyes were rolling with adrenaline from the gallop.

"Emily!" Hotch shouted, and brought Midnight to a stop and dismounted, rushing over to his fallen colleague.

"I'm fine." She groaned, rolling over onto her back "Is the horse alright?" Hotch looked Ping up and down.

"Yeah he's fine, just shaken. Come here." He offered his free hand out to her and pulled her up from the ground.

"Today really isn't our day today, is it?" She raised her eyebrows and looked at him, who shook his head.

"I guess not." Aaron answered with a smile. "Are you sure you're okay?" He looked her up and down. Even with soaking wet clothes and half covered in mud it amazed him how beautiful she still was.

"Yeah. God, this'll give everyone something to talk about." Emily pouted, not liking to be the center of attention like that.

"At least you're not the only one." Hotch indicated to his own soaking wet clothes in an effort to console her. Emily half smiled at him and scooped up a glob of mud from the floor and wiped it down his arm.

"I feel better now, _Sir._" She said, grinning like a Cheshire cat at the attempted scowl her superior was pulling before he too grabbed a handful of mud and wiped it down her back. "Hey! I'm already covered in mud!" She retorted, pointing a finger at him.

"Obviously not enough." He said pointedly, turning around to re-mount Midnight when a lump of mud smacked him in the neck. He turned around slowly his face impassive, before he spoke.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have done that."

"What the hell happened to you two?" Morgan exclaimed as Aaron and Emily slowly made their way into the barn. Emily was no longer the only one covered in mud as a result of a minor (not!) mud fight on the way back to the stables.

Hotch and Prentiss shared a small smirk as they caught sight of their co-workers expressions at their arrival.

"Just a minor mishap. Nothing much." Emily smirked and didn't hold eye contact with anyone. Her and Hotch turned to put their horses away.

"Girl, why are you dripping?!" Emily and Aaron both snorted uncontrollably as they walked into their horse's stalls.

Aaron woke up. It was still dark out so he checked his watch. 2.30. Uncomfortable, he shifted in his bunk, and noticed the empty bed across from his. That was Emily's wasn't it? He was sure she was there when he fell asleep. Leaping down from his place on the top bunk, he quietly strode over to the bathroom. Nope, not there.

Not knowing where else she could be, he walked over to the door. In the darkened light he could just make out the form of Emily sitting on the swing seat rocking herself softly.

"Why are you out here?" He spoke softly, so as not to startle her.

"Couldn't sleep." She didn't pull her eyes away from whatever she was looking at in the distance.

"Thank god." He acted overly dramatic, "I thought you'd been attacked by the mud again, or something." This made Emily chuckle slightly.

"For the most part, it was your fault." She raised an eyebrow at him and he settled down on the seat beside her.

"What, how was it my fault?" His lips quirked.

"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have spent an hour in the shower trying to get mud out of my hair." Emily said pointedly.

"Eh, well you win some, you lose some." He shrugged. The wind picked up for a second and although it was summer it was still quite chilly so Emily shifted a fraction closer to Hotch.

"Are you cold?" He looked down at her.

"A little." She answered untruthfully. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and she laid her head on his shoulder. She sighed, "I like it out here."

"So do I." He agreed, dipping his head. "Maybe we can convince Strauss to let us come again next year."

"Yeah right," Emily laughed into his shoulder and he enjoyed the feeling. "She'd only send us back if she knew we hated it."

"I'll have to tell her what a terrible time we had, then." They both smiled, and fell quiet for a couple of minutes.

"Thanks for a great day. It was fun." Emily thanked Aaron. Although it wasn't how she had expected it to be, it turned out fun nonetheless.

"I should be thanking you too." He said softly, before making her look at him. "They're never going to let up until we tell them what happened, are they?" He asked with a smile, indicating towards the cabin behind the both of them.

"Not a chance in hell." Emily answered with a smile before turning her whole body to face him. Both of their eyes flickered to the other's lips as they leaned in, caught up in the moment.

Their lips met slowly, it was a kiss filled with passion and not lust. Emily suddenly pulled back and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." She apologized, not looking his in the eye. Aaron reached out and pulled up her chin so she looked at him.

"Don't be. I'm not sorry." He told her softly, before leaning in and stealing another kiss. Both of them leaned back comfortably in their seats, comforted by the presence of the other.

"What are we going to do about Strauss?" Emily spoke, a worried look crossed her face and Aaron covered her lips with his own.

"Let me handle Strauss. Don't worry about it."

* * *

**Awww cutee! Did you like it? Did you hate it? What do you want to see? What do you think is going to happen? Do you know how to answer these questions? Yes that is correct! With a review! Gahh, you're catching on fast. **

**Remember the more you review the quicker I update, I'll do it as fast as I can, (just bear in mind I only have ten fingers to type with so I can't write abnormally fast)**

**Until next time, my mindlings!**


	3. Chapter 3

**so, here's another chapter! It did take a while, but I did my best and I hope you like it:3**

**Let me just clear up a couple of issues that some reviewers had made to all of you: Yes, if Hotch and Emily got a few extra clues that meant the rest of the teams only got 2/3 clues. I was aware of this before posting, but if I did more then the chapter would have been incredibly boring, so apologies on that one.**

**Apparently I didn't make it clear as to who won the scavenger hunt, however I wanted you to work it out, because I'm not exactly a fan of stories where all of the information is spoon-fed to you off of a plate. Aaron and Em came last in the hunt. The clue is towards the end of the chapter when the team are questioning why they are covered in mud as they come back to the barn. If they were there, it was obvious that they had gotten back first, right?**

**Still with me? Good good.**

**Let me make this clear to you all. This isn't going to be a fic where they are basically in love and announcing it to the team after the first week. I'm not sure about you, but I would like to carry it on after the team building course is finished and develop the relationship further. Let me be sure that is is clear that they will not suddenly announce it to the team that they are in a relationship within days of knowing themselves. Lets face it, Em and Hotch's characters aren't like that, so that isn't going to happen.**

**Let me know what you think about that. Would you be interested in a sequel?**

**Read on...**

**And review...**

* * *

Chapter 3

Emily looked up at Hotch sitting next to her from the bacon and eggs she was eating, and looked away when she caught his eye, her cheeks slightly rosier than usual. They'd stayed outside the cabin for a couple of hours until Emily very nearly fell asleep on Aaron and he had to help her back to her bunk.

She looked back up at him and smiled when she felt his hand on her thigh, giving her that much needed comforting touch that she had craved only hours before. Aaron grinned back at her when he felt her intertwine her fingers with his own given the security of the table, so they knew it was unseen by the rest of the profilers. The couple held eye contact for a couple of seconds, before turning back to their food, not wanting to give anything away to their friends.

"So what actually happened yesterday?" Morgan asked Prentiss smirking at the memory of seeing their usually professional colleagues chortling along to some inside joke while un-tacking their horses.

"You see, Morgan. We would tell you," Emily looked to Aaron who matched her face of mock seriousness, "But then we would have to kill you."

"Very funny, but I'm serious here. Why were you two soaking wet?" Everyone was listening in to their conversation at this point, including Rita and Ray.

"Yeah," JJ joined in, "It looked like you guys had jumped into the river or something." At that the two agents began laughing uncontrollably, much to the amusement of the others.

"What did I say?" JJ asked, confused before her eyes widened, "You did, didn't you?" She exclaimed loudly, pointing a finger at the pair.

"We never said that." Hotch told her, not able to stop the slight quirk up that his lips made, telling everybody all they needed to know.

"What the hell went on yesterday Aaron?" Rossi asked him, laughing slightly with everyone else. Hotch didn't answer, instead he just tapped the side of his nose and shared a smirk with Emily, before carrying on with his food, much to the complaints of the other team members.

Before the team was going to ride, they needed to help Rita and Ray with general jobs around the barn that needed doing. Some were quite pleasant, such as grooming the other horses that weren't being cared for by the team.

Other jobs… not so pleasant.

"Aaron and Emily – I have a special job for you." Rita told them with a mischievous glint in her eye, "Since you like to 'jump' into things," Several other team members sniggered at her choice of words, "Could you guys climb on up on the muck heap and start moving things around? It needs airing out."

It was obvious to Emily and Aaron that the other team members thought this was hilarious, so were not hesitant one bit to show that they were capable of doing something so… 'Mucky.'

Until they were out of earshot, that is.

"Really?" Emily asked the sky as she stepped onto the muckheap, pitchfork at the ready.

"You never done this before?" Aaron asked her with one eyebrow raised as he sifted through the straw.

"'Course I have, too many times. Why couldn't she get someone who hasn't done it before to do it? I'm sure they could do with the experience." She added with a cheeky grin.

"Well, that leaves all of them in that crowded barn… and us two on our own, out here." Hotch whispered into her ear as he leaned in close, sending shivers down her spine as his breath tickled the skin of her neck.

"I guess that is an up side." She looked up at him through her eyelashes, before stopping as she looked down suddenly. "Gross! There's horse poop on my foot!" She shook her leg, hoping to get it off. Much to her disgust this technique didn't work. "I'm going to find a patch of grass." Emily told Aaron, huffing as she shuffled back down to the bottom of the heap. "Crap!" She shouted as she slipped, falling onto the concrete next to the muck. "Yeah," Hotch said, flashing his dimples as he helped her up. "Crap – literally."

"Aaron!" She shouted, swatting his arm playfully, who answered her with a chuckle as he turned away to carry on with his job, "You know, I never really thought of you as the jokey type." She told him, scraping her foot along the concrete floor.

"And why is that?" Aaron asked her, his shovel stopping mid-motion.

"You're just not that talkative out of work, I guess." Emily shrugged her shoulders before outstretching her arm as Hotch pulled her back up to him.

"Is this not enough for you?" He asked her while pulling her close with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Well, I'm hoping that you don't do this with all of your subordinates. That would be strange." Emily looked up, biting her lip as she grinned.

"Of course. All the time." He told her dryly. "In the break room, my office, hell even in the supply closet. Hell, I don't know where to stop!"

"Oh sure." She swatted his arm playfully again as she went back to her job, "Well, this crap isn't going to shift itself."

"That's something you don't hear every day." Aaron told her, who sniggered.

"Alright guys, we're going to be doing something a little different today." Rita announced to the team who were sitting on their horses in a line across the arena. "We're going to be practicing a game called pole bending. Basically you weave in and out of the line of poles as fast as you can and then back again." The team looked up and down the poles set up at the far end of the arena.

"I'm pretty sure that Hotch and Prentiss have an advantage." Reid complained. Because he wasn't particularly skilled in physical activities it was a fair enough comment to make.

"That's why they will be doing a Puissance at the other end of the arena." Ray told them, but continued when he saw their confused faces. "It's where you jump a single jump and it gets higher and higher until you knock it over. The person that jumps the highest wins."

"Twenty says Prentiss wins." Morgan whispered to JJ, who grinned mischievously at his.

"Twenty says Hotch wins." She whispered back to Morgan who held out his hand and gave hers a firm shake.

"Deal."

Although the two competitions were carried out at the same time, the pole-bending team kept stealing glances at Hotch and Prentiss. The jump started out incredibly small, with both riders not needing to do too much to encourage their horses over the brightly colored fence.

Once the jump reached around three feet, the pole-bending group stopped to watch the competitiveness between the two agents who were oblivious due to their determination.

"Come on!" Emily erred Ping on, who responded by soaring over the large-ish fence.

"Yes!" Morgan whispered, hoping the bet he had placed was a winner, and JJ sent him a scornful look.

This carried on for a couple of fences until both horses were struggling to get themselves over the incredibly large fence. Both Midnight and Ping had rattled the last pole, but it had stayed put and not fallen to the floor.

"This is the big one…" Morgan whispered to JJ beside his, who was too busy watching the event in front of her to reply. Emily was approaching the fence, encouraging Ping on with all she had, to which he responded, giving an almighty jump over the fence. Morgan waited as the pole rattled in its cups, but relaxed when it stood it's ground and didn't fall.

"Yes, Prentiss!" He shouted, raising his fist.

"You know," Emily started as she walked Ping near to the other group, "Anyone would think you betted on me and Hotch." Morgan and JJ both looked down, not quite sure what to say to the woman who had seen right through them.

"Kinda…" JJ began, but was interrupted.

"If I'm right, you betted one me?" She looked at Morgan, who nodded. "If you win, we split it." She grinned, she might as well make a little money out of it, right?

"Deal." Morgan repeated, grinning back.

"Okay Aaron. If you get over this, the jump will raise again. If you knock it over, Emily will win." Ray shouted to Hotch who was circling Midnight in determined anticipation. After nodding in acknowledgement of Ray's words he began to canter and lined up to the jump.

"Come on. Come on. Come on." JJ whispered this mantra under her breath, as he got closer to the jump. Time seemed to go in slow motion as he took off, soaring high into the air and over the fence. Midnight had underestimated the size of the jump a little and knocked it with his hind legs.

"No!" JJ whispered harshly as the pole rocked.

Left. Right. Left.

Drop.

"Yes! Come on Prentiss!" Morgan cheered, happy for his friend but also for the money he would receive.

"No way!" JJ whispered, mocking anger for Morgan's benefit. Emily and Aaron rode towards each other and met in the middle of the arena.

"Well done." Hotch told her, who was still grinning wildly at her achievement.

"Thanks, you did great too, though. It gets to a certain point where it's the ability of the horse – not the rider." Emily said to her friend.

Wait. Were they friends? Boyfriend and girlfriend? Emily mentally shook her head; it could wait until later.

"You do realize that Morgan and JJ bet on us?" The female agent asked the male, who shook his head.

"I wouldn't expect any less… Wait. Who bet on who?" He asked suddenly.

"Morgan bet on me and JJ on you."

"I knew I always liked her…" He trailed off cheekily when Emily scowled playfully.

"Aaron!"

The team hadn't ridden again after lunch to give their horses a little rest ready for a midnight ride Rita had organized for later on. That had meant that the spent the afternoon relaxing, and had taken a little walk together. They were currently tacking up their horses ready with Rita and Ray who were going to ensure that they didn't get lost in the darkness.

"You okay?" Emily asked over Aaron's stall door as she walked by for some leg boots for Ping.

"Yeah, almost ready. Are you?" Hotch asked in return.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, stepping into Midnights stall to stand alongside Hotch behind the horse.

"Good." Aaron smiled, then pulled her into a hug with the protection of the large horse from anyone seeing the exchange. Emily pulled her arms up and hugged him close.

"Is everybody ready?" Rita called out, disturbing thee moment as Emily moved out of Hotch's grasp.

"Crap, I'd better get those boots." Hotch smiled as she hurried off.

"It's really nice out here at night…" Emily mused as her and Aaron trailed along at the back of the group, with Rita and Ray leading the way.

"Mmm." Hotch hummed in content agreement, "I love working at the BAU, but this is great, too." Emily nodded in agreement.

"Amen." It was silent for a couple of minutes and the group reveled in the tranquility of the wildlife surrounding them. Every scuffle in the bushes, every sound was just adding to the calmness of the atmosphere that the BAU team didn't usually get to appreciate in their world of criminals and justice. "Do you know the time?" Emily asked Aaron suddenly, so he reached into his pocket and checked his blackberry.

"12:30." He confirmed as he attempted to slide his phone back into his pocket, but it missed and crashed down onto the floor below them. "Crap." He whispered loud enough for Emily beside him to hear, but not for the group ahead of them. He hopped off of Midnight in time to see Emily hop off of Ping.

"Here let me help." She said as she dropped to the floor and began blindly searching for the missing phone with one hand, while holding the reins with the other.

"Thanks."

Hotch said appreciatively as he began searching too, only to bump their heads together in the process.

"Sorry." Emily laughed, holding her hand up to her forehead.

"It was my fault." Aaron said, not quite sure what else to say until he saw her holding her head in the semi-darkness. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm fine." She laughed and carried on searching the dusty floor with her fingertips. Suddenly they closed around a rectangular object and she held it up triumphantly. "Gotcha!" She exclaimed and handed it over to her superior who checked if it still worked – which it did.

Emily slowly brought her hand up to rest on his cheek and both looked the other in the eye and leaned forward…

"Are you guys alright?" Morgan's voice cut through the darkness and the pair drew back quickly, although they knew that the poor lighting ensured that the profiler didn't see this.

"Yeah, sorry. Hotch dropped his phone. We'll catch up." Emily called out to the figure she couldn't see, and the sound of retreating hoof-falls proved that he'd received loud and clear.

"Why didn't you tell him we'd already found it?" Hotch's voice came across puzzled, so Emily quickly set things straight.

"So we could do this." The female agent ran her hand through his equally dark hair and pulled his lips in to hers, kissing him passionately. He moaned into her and quickly seized control, gliding his tongue over her lower lip, asking permission to enter.

Soon they separated, through lack of oxygen, not trying. While trying to catch their much-needed breath, they simply took pleasure from having their bodies pressed flush against the other.

"We… should… probably catch… up." Emily mumbled into his chest, suddenly caught up in the toned muscles that she could feel through the thin material.

"Yeah…" Aaron drifted off. Neither of them really had the intention to do this until they finally caught their breath, which happened a few minutes later.

"Come on." Emily persuaded, untangling herself from his muscly arms.

"Ugh." Hotch moaned as he pulled himself into Midnight's saddle.

Was that thing getting higher?

As they began to walk Emily nudged Ping closer and closer to their companions until her and Aaron's legs were practically touching, so she reached out, and rode along in silence, hand in hand.

* * *

**Like it? **

**It is not going to be an awkward relationship. Just sayin'.**

**Uh huh, I went there.**

**I didn't finish the scene so I could carry it on into the chapter and get this up as soon as possible. Let me know what you think, pretty please?**

**Go review. Now. *Motions with hands* Go.**


	4. In the Dark

**Not a very long chapter today... Will explain at the bottom:)**

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Chapter 4

_What just happened? _Emily asked herself as they rode along in silence. The lack of conversation wasn't uncomfortable and she wasn't bothered by it. It was as if they were conversing through body language and movement. What was that clichéd phrase?

An action speaks a thousand words.

It was kind of like that in a way, but not only because they were profilers. Yes, they were on autopilot reading other peoples body language constantly, but not to this intensity, this passion.

The only sounds to be heard were the gentle thuds of the horse's hooves on the dusty floor.

"I don't actually know that much about you." Emily spoke softly so as to not disturb the tranquility of the moment.

"Well, what is it that you want to know?" Aaron also spoke softly as he let his guard down to the woman beside him.

"It's not what I want to know, it's just that we never really speak outside of work, so I know what you're like, just not what you're _like_. We've talked more these last couple of days, but not properly like get-to-know talking. If you know what I mean." She stopped short when she only just saw his semi-amused face through the darkness. "I should shut up now, shouldn't I?" her cheeks burned and she looked down at her hands.

"I get what you mean." He chuckled. "Kind of. We're not really the greatest at sharing, are we?" Aaron squeezed her hand as the only gesture of comfort he could give her at the moment.

"I guess not." Emily admitted and chuckled too, "But I guess that comes with the territory…" She trailed off uncertainly.

Emily and Aaron both loved their jobs - that much was clear- however the large amount of death and destruction left in the paths of unrelenting killers took its toll on every individual in their quirky team in different ways. Although the satisfying ending they received from most cases helped, there still were those cases that were just draining emotionally and physically.

"Woah, hold up." Emily announced suddenly, pulling Ping up short.

"What?" Aaron asked as he did the same.

"What way do we go?" Emily asked him, pulling her hand out from his and pointing it ahead of them. The trail forked off, and since they held back from the team they had no idea which path they had taken.

"I can't remember. Even if we took this path the other day I couldn't tell in the dark." Aaron shook his head.

"Call them." Emily told him.

"Oh yeah." He realized, so he pulled it out of his pocket and hit the second speed dial, which was Rossi's number. The phone beeped dejectedly in his ear so he pulled it away and looked at the screen.

"Dammit, no signal." Hotch cursed, shoving it back into his pocket.

"Should we flip for it? Heads is left and tails is right." Emily said as she fished for a coin in her jodhpurs pocket. She flipped it easily.

"Heads." Aaron read out, after studying the coin in the dim light of the moon.

"Right it is." They set off once more hand in hand along the trail, stopping every once and a while when they heard a noise that could be their missing group.

"This isn't working." Hotch decided finally, after ambling along for around fifteen minutes. "If they even are on this trail we wouldn't know. We need to speed up."

"Okay then." Emily untangled her fingers from Hotch's and signaled Ping to trot.

After a few silent minutes Hotch signaled for them to stop.

"We would have caught up by now." He pointed out.

"Should we turn back?" Emily asked him, ready to turn at his say-so.

"I'm not sure-" He was cut off by a hush from Emily. "What?" He asked her quietly.

"Did you hear that?" They both listened intently for a few seconds and they heard a twig snap behind them.

"Is anybody there?" Emily wasn't able to disguise the waver in her voice. They were blind to whoever it was and their firearms were back at the cabin.

"Right, because a homicidal maniac hiding in the shadows is really going to answer you." Aaron said dryly, but was ignored by Emily who was squinting her eyes, willing them to see through the darkness.

"There you are!" A voice boomed around them, causing them both to jump violently and their horses skittered to the side.

"Morgan!" Emily scolded, hand on her heart after she had steadied her mount. "Don't do that!"

"Sorry." He apologized, but still grinned at them.

"I think it's time to work our way back, what do you think?" Rita addressed the whole group.

"Yeah." They all murmured in agreement and nudged their horses into movement as Ray led the way.

* * *

Emily sighed softly as she sank onto her bunk. The team had left for breakfast, but Hotch was still in the bathroom so she had made up an excuse to stay behind to wait for him.

Three more days. Three more days left until they had to return to the BAU. Emily loved her job, she was practically married to it, but she wasn't sure she could return to the constantly stressful environment with her head as clear to the job as it used to be.

Some members of the team asked her how she managed to compartmentalize so well with the horrendous things that they uncover on a day-to-day basis, but the truth was that she was just incredibly good at hiding her feelings. That's all it is. She put all of the horrible images into the back of her mind so she could focus on the task at hand, but when she got home it all came spilling over. Compartmentalization wasn't anything special; it was just a different way of dealing with things.

The brunette was so immersed into her thoughts that she hadn't realized Aaron had re-entered the room.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked her softly.

"It doesn't matter." Emily shrugged off his concern and sat up, ready to leave for breakfast. She sat up and sighed as she rolled her shoulders, trying to rid herself from the stiffness that had settled there in the night.

"Come here." Aaron said, twisting her round on the bunk and sitting behind her, kneading his hands into her neck.

"Oh… You have magic fingers." Emily moaned appreciatively, "How did I not already know this?" Hotch shrugged and she felt his arms jolt slightly as he chuckled.

"When Hayley was pregnant this was like gold dust." Aaron pulled her towards his chest and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "Are you okay?" He whispered into her ear then placed a tender kiss on her right temple.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Emily said, "We should probably go." She sat up, pulling away from him.

"It sounds kind of cliché, but you know I'm here for you, right?" Hotch asked her, unsure.

"Of course I do." Emily promised as he pressed a firm kiss to her temple. She jumped out of the bunk.

"Come on superman," She encouraged, tugging on his hand until he jumped down beside her, "Even crime fighters need food." Emily reminded him, leading him towards the cabin door.

"Coffee. Never forget the coffee." Aaron mocked his usual sternness, but gave in and gave her a grin, once again flashing his dimples.

* * *

**The reason that this chapter is not as long as normal is because there are three more days left in their week at Rocky Heights. I know what is happening on their last day there, but I put this chapter up early to give you guys the chance to choose what happens in the other two days. No matter how weird/cute/strange any of your suggestions are, I'd like to hear them to take them into consideration! Nothing is too different for me to include, so you never know! **

**Review please! PM or review your requests:)**


	5. Join up

**Sorry for not updating for a couple of days! I've had a lot going on lately, but now I have a two week vacation! Woo! I'm hoping to get more stuff written, but we'll see when my muse decides to show up again. I'd like to say that the clumsy things that have happened such as Hotch dropping his phone and Emily falling off of the muck heap aren't just made up... Lots of the stuff that has happened in this story are things that have happened to me... It hurts a surprising amount when you fall off a muck heap and I had a huge bruise to prove it... Luckily my phone survived when it fell out of my pocket when I was riding my friends ex-racehore- which is HUGE I might add:)**

**Just thought I'd share that with you guys, fortunately I haven't ever fallen into the river;)**

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Chapter 5

Rita led the team up to a medium sized wooden round pen, where Ray was already waiting.

"Woah mama." Morgan said after taking a look at the half-crazed horse running around madly inside. Clouds of dust pillowed up into the air around as strong hooves hit the floor.

"Meet Thunder." Rita gestured towards horse with a black, glistening coat. "We won't be riding today, but we will be learning about the importance of body language, which is no doubt helpful in your line of work." They all stepped closer to the pen, but shied away slightly as the powerful animal came close to the fence.

"Who's first to give him a pet, then?" Ray asked, gesturing into the pen.

"No way!" JJ scoffed and from the looks of the other team members they were all on the same page.

"I assure you that he is perfectly safe as long as you follow our instructions." Rita tried to convince them. "Right, who's first?" Unbeknownst to Emily, everyone else took a step back leaving her way out in front.

"Well done Emily, up you come." Ray instructed.

"What?" The brunette agent said surprised, but looked around at her colleague's sheepish faces. "Guys!" She complained, but Morgan gave her shoulder a slight push.

"You're on your own, Prentiss." He told her, grinning mischievously.

"Fine." She huffed, stepping forwards, but tentatively entering the pen, which Ray slammed shut behind her with a sense of finality.

"Right." Rita turned to the group. "We want the horse to get near Emily and trust her. How do you think she will get it to co-operate?"

"Food?" JJ offered, shrugging her shoulders.

"That could encourage it closer to her, but it is likely to step away from her again as soon as it has taken what it wants. What she is going to demonstrate to you is a method called join up." Whilst Rita was explaining this to the team Ray had been whispering to Emily what to do, so she stalked to the center of the pen confidently and waved her arms around violently, causing Thunder to begin cantering around the outside of the pen.

"What is she doing?" Reid asked. He was confused as to why she would want to scare the horse away that she would like to connect with.

"She's telling him that she's in charge." Hotch murmured, impressed.

"Exactly." Rita pointed out.

Emily suddenly stepped to the side so she was ahead of the horse's movements, which caused him to turn around and start cantering the other way, his eyes rolling around in their sockets.

"So what's going to happen now? Is Thunder just going to keep going?" Morgan turned to Rita.

"He'll let her know when he's ready." Morgan was informed.

"But how-"

"Look! Did you see that?" Rita all but shouted, caught up in the excitement, so she moved closer to the pen to shout to the agent. "What is he telling you?"

"He's listening and he wants to talk." Emily called back, tilting her head towards them slightly but not talking her eyes off of the powerful creature currently in her control.

"How'd she get that?" JJ asked Hotch, who seemed to be understanding the silent conversation between the woman and the horse.

"See his inner ear? It's pointed towards her because he's focusing on her and listening." Hotch leaned in to talk to her, but didn't pull his eyes away from the scene ahead of him. Thunder ducked his head to the floor, slowing down to a trot.

"He's waiting for the signal, Emily." Ray called to her from the gate.

"What's the signal?" Rossi whispered to Rita because he didn't want to disturb what was happening in front of him.

"You'll see." Rita whispered back as Emily turned around on the spot so she was now facing away from the horse, which had stopped and pricked his ears towards her in confusion. The agent in control held her ground for a second. Soft footfalls were heard in the dusty ground behind her as Thunder walked tentatively forwards at first, and then grew more confident.

Emily sensed his presence behind her and felt his nose come to rest on her shoulder. It was obvious to the group watching that Emily was now dominant and in control of the muscled creature that could easily over-power her if it tried. She slowly tuned around, grinning like an idiot and brought her hand up to stroke him between the eyes.

"Atta boy." Emily whispered, touched that he held so much trust in her.

"Well done, Em!" JJ called through the fence, which just caused her to grin even more wildly. She caught a pointed look from Ray, then remembered what he had told her to do in order to test the bond that she had created, so she stepped forwards and heard the horse take another step towards her.

"That's it Emily!" Rita encouraged as the brunette began to jog around the round pen, crisscrossing here and there whilst the dark horse followed her every movement.

"Why is he doing that?" Morgan asked Rita.

"He is sticking to her like glue because he knows that she is in control and he will be safe when he is with her. It's how heard animals work." She offered as an explanation.

"Cool." He replied, fascinated at the way these powerful creatures mind's work. It was kind of like people in a way. Many look towards an authority figure for safety and stability. He was brought out of his thoughts when Emily walked to the gate and took her riding hat from Ray who was holding it out to her.

"Em?" Hotch asked her, not realizing his nickname as it slipped out of his mouth, but luckily it seemed that the rest of the team were too curious to notice. In response to his unspoken question the dark-haired profiler looked over and sent him a smile to let him know she was okay. She bent down and picked up some rope from the dusty floor that Aaron hadn't noticed was there before and then slipped it over Thunder's head, all the while muttering soft comforting words to him.

"Ready?" Rita called over to the woman, who turned back and nodded. Emily held the rope at the base of his neck and then stood beside him at his shoulder, steeling herself for what she was about to do. In one jump she swung on leg over the large horse so she was sitting astride him with no saddles or bridles for control.

Just a rope.

"She's riding like that?" JJ asked, astounded to the woman's bravery for riding a horse that just minutes ago was galloping around crazily.

"We're going back to basics." Rita confirmed just as Emily gave Thunder a nudge and sent him trotting around the pen. It was a bit unsteady at first because she couldn't rise and fall to the beat without the aid of a saddle, but Emily soon caught the hang of it.

When she began cantering she carefully let go of the rope, and held her arms out beside her.

It felt like flying.

All the while the agent could not wipe off the smile plastered to her face.

"Come on." Emily tugged Aaron along behind her, leading him away from where the team was finishing cleaning up the dishes.

"Where are we going?" Aaron asked with amusement, however he complied and followed.

"You'll see." Emily replied ominously as the couple stumbled through the barn doors and pulled them shut behind them. "This way." She pulled him past the horse stalls and up the wooden stairs to the sweet smelling hayloft.

Hotch grinned when he saw an old blanket strewn across a couple of bales and Emily immediately sat down on it, pulling him with her.

"What's all this?" He mumbled into her hair as his chin rested on her head. Emily bit her lower lip as she answered.

"We're alone now. No interruptions." She laid a finger on his belly button and slowly drew it up to his toned chest.

"Oh really?" Aaron asked her seductively, wrapping his arm even tighter around her waist he pulled Emily into him.

"Definitely." She paused. "Well, unless the barn burns down or anything – but lets not count that." Emily felt Aaron jiggle as he chuckled.

"Come here." He reached up and pulled her chin around to face him. Emily's dark eyes glistened in the half-light that the single light bulb in the loft gave out. Her orbs grew darker with desire as she leaned in and only skimmed her lips against his before pulling back again, teasing him.

"Em…" He mumbled as she brought her lips back again, this time pressing a firm kiss to his lips, and then trailing them down his jaw.

"Come. On. Superman." She told him between kisses, and then let him bring his lips down to hers. They shifted on the hay bales so they were lying down, Aaron on the bottom and Emily leaning over him. They broke apart when the need for oxygen in their lungs became too strong to ignore, so lay panting together, just happy laying in silence with each other.

"That was nice." Emily mumbled into the cotton shirt covering his chest, but pushed up on her hands either side of his face to look Aaron in the eye.

"It was." He agreed and Emily couldn't help but notice the sweet way the corners of his eyes crinkle when he smiles. Emily lay back down on his chest and drew mindless nothings on his shirt with her fingertips and Aaron was content in letting her do so.

Emily groaned as she shifted position on the hay.

"Are you okay?" Aaron's head shot up in a flash, his face covered with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded softly.

"Em." Aaron said sternly.

"Okay, okay." She relented. "It's nothing, my leg muscles just aren't as accustomed as they used to be." She shot Hotch a questioning look when he released a breath of air he was holding.

"You too?" He asked. "Thank God, I thought I was the only one." Aaron smiled at Emily's amused face.

"I know I was annoyed when you guys singled me out earlier, but thanks." Emily's eyes glistened as she relived the memories that she was sure would be held close to her heart for a long time. "It was the best feeling."

"I'm glad you feel that way." Aaron started, then grinned mischievously, "Because I'd still rather it was you than me. Could you have imagined what would have happened if you'd have fallen off? Talk about embarrassing." He teased her.

The female profiler brought her hand up to his cheek.

"I love your dimples when you smile, so I'll forgive you for that." Emily whispered and kissed over them on each of his cheeks. "Hey, you okay?" She spoke when she realized that he hadn't responded.

"Yeah, I was just thinking." Aaron replied casually.

"About?" Emily persisted, raising her eyebrows.

"Us. What's going to happen when we leave the day after tomorrow? We haven't even been on a date yet." Emily was silent for a few moments. "I'm sorry did I upset you?" Aaron asked.

"No, you just pretty much voiced my concerns to a T." She raised her head and rested it on her hands so she could look him in the eye.

"Huh. I guess great minds do think alike."

"So what are we going to do?" The female profiler prompted, once again drawing little nothings on his chest.

"Go on a date with me. Next Saturday – unless we get a case, that is." Emily's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Really? Sure, lets do it." She agreed.

"Good." Aaron confirmed and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "We should probably get back before anyone notices how long we've been."

"Oh god, yeah." Emily realized. "Ugh I don't want to move. Can't we just sleep here? Forever?" She groaned.

"As much fun as that sounds I think we should get to bed – Rita hinted to me at dinner that we're doing something big tomorrow and if those suitcases under your eyes are anything to go by, you're exhausted." Emily frowned at him.

"Isn't the term 'bags under your eyes'?" Aaron shook his head as he stood up and held his hand out to her which she took thankfully as here muscles protested.

"Not when they're as big as yours." He said pointedly, but smirked at the same time.

"Hey!" She yelled, smacking him on the arm. "Rude." She scowled at him playfully as he tugged her down the stairs and pulled her into his side once again as they made their way to the barn doors.

"Crap it's raining." Aaron said as he opened up the doors. We're going to have to run for it." He said and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hold on, hold on."

"What?"

"As much as lipstick suits you, I don't think Scarlet is your color." Emily smirked as she wiped at his jaw. "What, did you put this on in the dark? I think it's actually supposed to go on your lips."

"Ha ha." Aaron said dryly before adding, "Technically you put in on anyway."

"Whatever dear." Emily said patronizingly and patted him on the cheek. "All better." Aaron shook his head at the last comment, but Emily could see his dimples flash for a second as he looked out into the rain. Emily pulled her jacket over her head so her hair wouldn't get messed up. She looked at him, her eyes flashing.

"Race ya!" She yelled, running out into the rain quickly.

"No fair!" Aaron called as he sprinted after her, "You had a head start!"

"I win." Emily smiled as he reached the front porch to the team's cabin.

"Cheat." Aaron hid by a cough, but received a playful slap on the arm for his troubles.

"I heard that." She whispered menacingly in his ear. They both stepped away from each other as they heard voices from inside the cabin. Emily's eyes widened.

"What are we going to tell them?"

"Let me handle it." Aaron patted her arm reassuringly as he walked past and then they both walked in the door.

"Did you need to do a lot?" JJ asked as they walked in and shook off their wet jackets.

"I'm sorry?" Emily asked with her voice laced with confusion and Morgan stepped forwards, frowning.

"Rita just stopped by a couple of minutes ago and said you two were in the barn refilling the horse's hay nets."

"Oh that!" Emily laughed it off. "Yeah, there was a lot." Everyone took this as an explanation and carried on with what they were doing.

"Do you think Rita knows?" Aaron asked Emily as their heads came close when they both bent down to unfasten their shoes.

"I don't know. I guess we'll find out tomorrow."

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**Tell me what you think and the next chapter will write itself faster:) I'd like to say that Join-up is a real method that is used with horses and it really works! it is amazing, check it out on youtube! How i've written it is the very basic way of how it's done, but don't shoot me if it's wrong because I'm not a professional. (Even though i'd like to be)**

**Wow, you guys need to watch more movies! The quote from a couple of chapters back is from the film Max-Q. Paget Brewster is in it:) (Emily Prentiss.)**

**If you haven't seen it I'd recommend watching it- it's on youtube somewhere, especially since Paget's character saves the day;)**

**Adios Amigos!**


	6. If in doubt, gallop it out!

**Hey people of Earth:) Got a long update of the last day at Rocky Heights, more at the bottom:)**

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Chapter 6

"Do you think she knows?" Emily murmured to Aaron as they sat together at breakfast. She had caught Rita staring at her a couple of times in the last few minutes and was pretty sure it had something to do with what her and Aaron had been up to the night before.

"You saw the looks too?" He asked and saw a slight nod from Emily so as to not broadcast their conversation to the team.

"I thought I was just being paranoid." Emily whispered back.

"It's not paranoia if it's true." Aaron raised an eyebrow at her. "Anyways, what does it matter if she does know? It's not likely she will tell anyone, but if she does what's the harm in that? The team would find out at some point anyway."

"The team would find out what anyway?" Morgan suddenly asked from across the table, and every set of eyes in the room turned towards them.

"Uh…" Emily stuttered, looking at her lap.

"That we're doing something special today." Rita interrupted, clapping her hands together. "I told these two not to tell anyone, but you might as well know now, right?" Emily and Aaron looked up quickly at each other in relief and amazement at the same time, before looking at Rita, who was trying hard to hide her smirk at the couple. Emily was lost for words, so smiled gratefully at the woman.

"So what is it we're doing?" JJ asked, looking around at the team who looked equally as interested.

"You four," She pointed at Rossi, Morgan, Reid and JJ, "Are going to be having a turn over our smaller cross country jumps and then a little competition course. It'll be a lot of fun and me and Ray both agree that you are experienced enough to give it a try, although you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable about it."

"What, and prove to Morgan that I can't handle it? No way!" Rossi spoke loudly, causing everyone in the room to chuckle.

"What are Hotch and Prentiss going to do?" Reid asked once it had calmed down.

"They will be taking part in a point-to-point race." Rita smiled, raising her eyebrows at the couple at the far end of the room.

"What's that?" It will be like the cross-country that you will be doing, except they will be doing it at the same time, the fences will be much higher and there'll be a lot more galloping on their part." Ray explained and then took a large mouthful of his coffee.

Morgan turned to Emily and Aaron.

"Nice! Don't kill each other." He advised playfully.

"Agent Hotchner." Emily said. "You're going down."

"Is that so, Agent Prentiss?" Hotch raised his eyebrows.

"Indeed it is."

"Hey. You okay?" Emily asked Aaron as she stood outside Midnight's stall.

"Yeah." Hotch said, dropping the brush he was using into a bucket at his feet. "I think they've betted on us again." Emily shook her head, smiling.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She opened up the heavy, wooden stall door and stepped inside, shutting it carefully behind her. "I really enjoyed last night."

"So did I." He tugged on her elbow and pulled her around so they were standing behind the horse and couldn't be seen from the door. Aaron cupped her cheeks with his hands and pulled her into a tender kiss. It was slow and loving, not full of lust like before. When he pulled back Emily grinned.

"If I didn't know any better I would say you were trying to distract me." The corners of Aaron's eyes wrinkled as he smiled.

"Why would I need to? I've got this based on pure talent." Emily scowled playfully at him.

"You got a bucket?" She asked.

"Yeah… Why?" Hotch asked confused.

"For all of the crap coming out of your mouth." She grinned. "Rita put us in charge of two people each to help with the cross country before our competition. So if you don't mind, I've gotta competition to win." She patted his cheek and sauntered out of the stall, the grin never leaving her face.

"Hey JJ. Need any help?" Emily asked as she walked in her friend's horse's stall.

"Erm, yeah, if you don't mind. Scooby's tail is a mess and I can't sort it out." Emily walked forwards and chuckled.

"Got a hair tie?" She stretched her hand out.

"Yeah, sure. Just...one…second" She felt around in her pockets and suddenly held one out triumphantly. "Here"

"Right." Emily flicked it onto her wrist and picket up a brush from the dusty, red bucket at the door. Even though she brushed it out the hairs still stood up everywhere. The brunette picket up some hairs at the top of the tail and began braiding them, adding a piece from each side of the tail as she moved down.

"Nice." JJ sounded impressed. "God, that takes skill." Emily stopped adding hair to it about a third of the way down the tail and just braided the pieces she held, before finishing it off with the hair tie.

"Thanks." Emily patted JJ's arm and smiled.

"It's fine. Did you hear? You're on my team. We gotta make ourselves look good." Emily said mischievously and JJ saluted back.

"Aye-Aye captain." Emily giggled.

"Let me know if you need any more help, okay?" The brunette asked, turning around as she walked away.

"Yeah, thank you!" The blonde called after her retreating form.

"Well played, Prentiss. Well played." Aarons voice said slowly as she walked past. Emily's already obvious smile broadened as she came to a stop and looked at him.

"Thank you, _Sir._" She emphasized. "Go big or go home."

"I see you're playing dirty." He scowled mockingly at her and crossed his arms. "Two can play at this game."

"Yes, but only one can win." Emily walked off again before he could retort so he settled for shaking his head and smirking at her retreating form. Emily made her way into the tack room to find a two white saddle pads for JJ and Reid to use so their team colors matched. Just as she began skimming the quite extensive collection of saddle pads a voice behind her made her jump.

"You two are perfect for each other, you know." Emily jumped and spun around quickly with her hand on her heart.

"Oh, Rita, it's you. You gave me a fright." Emily sighed relieved for a second. "I guess you saw, huh?" Thanks for earlier." Rita smiled and stepped closer to Emily.

"Don't worry about it. I can see that you aren't ready for people to know yet – your secret's safe with me." Emily smiled gratefully, and then looked down at her hands that she was wringing in front of her.

"Did you really mean it… That we're perfect together?" Rita stepped forwards and brought an unsuspecting Emily into a comforting hug.

"If I'm honest with you… I've never seen two people more perfect." Emily drew back and looked the older woman in the eye.

"Really?" Her dark eyes lit up with excitement.

"Yes." Rita smiled. "You don't come across as an insecure woman, trust your gut."

"Thanks, Rita." Emily smiled shyly as she finally found two saddle pads.

"Anytime. Now get out there and help your team – I'm rooting for you." Emily turned back and grinned at the older woman in thanks before hurrying away quickly back to JJ and Reid.

"Well done guys." Emily spoke to her team as they led their horses back into the barn. JJ and Reid had both picked up on the jumping fairly quickly for people who had never done it before. Overall JJ had come first, Morgan second, Rossi third and Reid last.

"Don't lie to me Emily, I did terrible." Reid was only half joking at this statement.

"Are you serious?" Emily looked shocked. "It took me the best part of a year to start jumping, and then another to start cross country. Don't sell yourself out." Reid smiled gratefully, glad for the support.

"So, Em." JJ started as she began taking off Scooby's girth. "What kind of riding did you used to do?" Emily helped her undo the girth buckle that got stuck.

"Um, Eventing, same thing as Hotch." She spoke whilst lifting the saddle off of the horse's back.

"How much?" JJ looked up from where she was un-buckling the bridle.

"Only four star." Emily said quietly, walking away to the tack room.

"Em!" JJ almost yelled, but stopped herself so she didn't spook the horses. "That's one off of Olympic level. God, you must be good." Emily blushed scarlet.

"Used to be, JJ. Not anymore." Emily sighed. "Anyway, Hotch is the same so we'll be on equal turf for the point-to-point." JJ shrugged as she shouldered the bridle.

"I guess. Come one, lets get Ping ready." She led Emily back to the tack room to get the equipment for Emily's horse.

"Emily, Aaron, could you come here for a second?" Rita called out from the middle of the barn, resulting in Emily sticking her head out of Ping's stall.

"Yeah, sure. Just a second." She quickly turned around and tightened her girth one more hole so Ping wouldn't made his saddle slip. "Coming." Emily called back as she stepped out of the stall and dusted her hands on her jodhpurs.

"Right." Rita said once both of them were beside her. "We want to be able to see you on as much of the course as possible and be able to tell who from who – well, and for a bit of fun – so I got you these." She handed each of them a piece of colorful clothing and something on top.

"No way!" Emily all but yelled out, causing the other team members to look at her as she held up what she had been given. "Jockey Silks!"

"Nice, Prentiss." Morgan winked at her, and Aaron clenched his jaw.

"And matching hat covers." Rita reminded them, smiling at the couple in front of her as they held up their silks against themselves. Emily's were blue with a big white cross, and Aaron's were Green with a chunky yellow stripe. They quickly pulled them on and Ray signaled to Rita that he was all set for the competition.

"Are you guys ready?" Rita asked.

"Yeah, lets do this." Hotch said and the brunette beside him nodded.

"Okay, you guys hop on and warm up in the arena. Ray and me will be down in about ten minutes."

"All warmed up?" Ray yelled to the two agents in the arena.

"Yep!" They nodded back enthusiastically. Morgan and JJ opened the arena gates for them to come back outside so they could get ready at the start line.

"Come on, Em! I'm rooting for you." JJ whispered when Emily rode past on an overly excited Ping.

"JJ did you bet on me again?" She took her blonde friend's smirk as a yes. "I get a 50/50 cut." Emily told her and rode off before JJ had a chance to argue.

Hotch rolled his eyes at Emily as they both stood at the starting line. "They never learn, do they?"

"Nope." Emily grinned.

"In 3…2…1… Go!" Ray shouted and both teams of horse and rider galloped off simultaneously. The team cheered them off into the distance until they were sure they wouldn't be heard anymore. They could see most of the course from their viewpoint, but there was a combination a couple of fences from the finish that rode into the woods that they couldn't see. Ray had kindly marked off the course with colored tape so they wouldn't lose their way and become lost, so they followed it thankfully, glad that they didn't have a course to remember too.

The first fence was a large log that had fallen across the ground, similar to the one that they had jumped a couple of days ago, but this one was bigger. Both teams jumped it easily and set off quickly for the next one, with Ping edging a little more ahead than Midnight.

"Oh no you don't." Aaron hissed under his breath and managed to close the gap a little by the time they had reached the first combination of the course – Two corner fences in tight succession of one another. Because these fences were two thin to be jumped by two horses at once Midnight was pushed behind Ping again and was now behind.

The next couple of fences flew by until they came up to a water jump. Emily felt Ping hesitate slightly as he eyed up the water, but she gave him a lot of encouragement and kicked him on. Thankfully he perked up and they only lost a little of the horse-length distance between the two horses. Both of them splashed noisily into the water and easily popped over the fence leading out back onto dry land.

Because they needed to pace themselves if they wanted their horses to be able to finish the race they came up to the woods at a steady canter. The next jump was down into a ditch and then a jump straight back up again. Emily tried to steady Ping as he held his head up high as they came towards it. The last couple of strides towards the ditch he seemed as if he was ready to jump it, so Emily tried to encourage him as much as she could. Just as she was expecting to jump into the ditch Ping ducked out from beneath her and she was falling…falling… into the ditch on her own. As she was mid air she knew that Hotch was coming up fast behind her and wouldn't have time to stop, so she curled up into a ball and tucked herself into the jump as much as possible.

She squeezed her eyes shut when she felt the floor rumble as Midnights giant hooves struck the ground only a few feet from her body. Emily sat tight for a few seconds so she was sure the horse was past, then opened one eye and then the other. Hotch suddenly came into her line of sight, walking up to her and leading Midnight behind him when she landed heavily on the stony floor.

"Em! Are you okay?" He knelt down beside her on the floor.

"I think so…" She muttered, sitting up and stretching out her limbs. "Crap!" Emily suddenly said as pain exploded around her ankle.

"What? Where does it hurt!?" Aaron spoke quickly and sounded worried.

"My ankle… I don't think it's broken, though." She outstretched her arms to him. "Help me up?"

"Yeah, come here." He answered and pulled her up beside him, but wrapped his arm around her waist when she had to balance on one foot. "Lets get you to your horse – you can't walk all the way back." Aaron said calmly, and helped her along to a now much calmer Ping, who was happily eating grass not far from the fence. "Can you manage to get up on your own?" He asked because he didn't have enough hands to lift her and keep hold of Midnight with.

"Yeah, I use my other leg to mount." Emily told him and mounted easily almost as if to prove her point.

"Can you put your bad foot in the stirrup?" He looked down at her leg that was hanging limply down Ping's side.

"No, I'll just not use them." The brunette crossed both of her stirrups over her chestnut horse's neck so they wouldn't get in the way. Hotch nodded and mounted his horse.

"I can still do this." Emily told him matter-of-fact, and he raised his eyebrows in return.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emily scoffed.

"Come on, I'll be fine." She assured him.

"Okay, only if-" He was interrupted.

"Let's go!" Emily shouted as she signaled Ping to canter, leaving Hotch behind looking baffled. He quickly came to his senses and followed her, but she had a bit of a lead.

Although Emily had never jumped a cross-country course without stirrups before she knew she was capable, because she'd jumped in the school without them before – and those fences were just as high.

"Come on, Em!" She mentally cheered herself on as they came to another fallen log. Hotch wasn't that far behind her and she didn't want another episode. She lost her balance a little over the log, but Emily soon caught the hang of it over the next two jumps. The last jump was a big hedge that had been shaped to look like a wave. Hotch was almost level with her as she jumped over it, so she encouraged Ping on as much as possible as soon as they landed. There was a long stretch of grass to gallop across to the finish line and she wasn't going to waste a second.

Her and Aaron were neck and neck now so they galloped on.

"Come on!" Hotch shouted at Midnight, though he knew that his horse was giving it his all. Less than a hundred yards to the finish line and he could see Ping inching his way forwards until…

"Yes!" JJ and Reid shouted as the pair galloped past the finish line. Although it was a very close race they knew that Prentiss had slipped in front of Hotch at the last second. Both of them pulled up their horses, panting heavily with huge grins on their faces.

"Great race!" Rita exclaimed to the exhausted pair. "But how come you took so long in the woods? We couldn't see you."

"Ah." Hotch said shortly. "Prentiss had a little fall." JJ gasped and they could all now see that she was covered in dust down one side.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked seriously. Emily nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Aaron shot her a stern look.

"Emily." He turned to the others. "She hurt her ankle so she finished up without stirrups." The group looked impressed.

"You just did that without stirrups?" Rossi asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah." Emily blushed a little. Aaron could see she was getting uncomfortable so he hopped off of Midnight and quickly handed the reins to an unsuspecting Reid.

"Come here." Hotch said, lifting up his arms to Emily who was looking at the floor like at was a million miles away, "Let me help you down."

"Thanks." She said gratefully as she carefully swung her bad foot over. If she had jumped to the floor it would have been incredibly painful. Rita stepped forwards and took Ping's reins from Emily once she was safely on the floor, held in Aaron's steady grip so she wouldn't put too much weight on her ankle.

"Aaron, you help Emily down to the house and get her some ice for her foot and get yourself a drink – we'll take care of the horses." Emily smiled gratefully at the woman who had helped her no end in the last week.

"Thanks." Hotch said, wrapping Emily's arm around his shoulders and his around her waist. With the aid of the dark-haired profiler Emily hobbled along favoring her right foot until they were out of sight of the team.

"Come here." Aaron spoke softly and picked her up into his arms bridal style. Emily breathed a sigh of relief and grinned.

"Thank you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and tucked her head into his chest. Her breathing hitched as Aaron jolted her slightly in his grasp and her foot once again reminded her of what had happened.

"Sorry." He apologized, looking down into her dark eyes.

"It's not your fault." Emily shook her head briefly and half smiled. "God I'm going to have a hell of a bruise on my ass!" She exclaimed suddenly, causing Aaron to chuckle as he stepped into the dining area of the house.

"I have to say, it was a pretty magnificent fall." Emily shrugged as he set her down in one of the worn wooden chairs and set another one opposite her to rest her foot on.

"What can I say? Go big or go home, remember?" She laughed along with Aaron, but hissed in pain as he tried to ease her riding boot off.

"Sorry, but I've gotta get this off." He apologized again.

"It's fine, just do it quickly." Emily shook her head, gripping onto the edge of her seat with her hands as she winced so her knuckles turned white. Aaron walked off for a second into the kitchen and came back with some ice wrapped in a dishcloth.

"Oh god, that feels good." Emily sighed as he set it gently on her foot.

"Good." Aaron said, satisfied for the moment. "Let me go get some drinks." He said, standing from his kneeling position on the floor beside her and walking into the kitchen. Emily tried to relax while she heard the chinking of glasses from the room beside her until Aaron came back with some lemonade with ice for each of them.

"Thanks. I'm so hot!" Emily exclaimed, tipping her head back and sighing gratefully after she sipped her drink.

"Oh here," Aaron encouraged, stepping closer to her. "Let me help you get this off." He tugged her silks off over her head to reveal the navy polo shirt she had on underneath.

"Thanks. I thought I was about to melt all over the floor." She replied with a smile, taking another sip of her drink. Aaron raised his eyebrows and the corners of his mouth twitched.

"I'm not cleaning that up." He retorted, causing Emily to snort into her drink.

"Smartass." She mumbled into her drink.

"And don't you forget it." He patted her good leg and winked, causing Emily to roll her eyes.

"Ah…" Emily winced, shifting in her chair. "This ice is really cold now." Aaron turned to her and raised his eyebrows. "Oh, you know what I mean." She said, swatting him playfully.

"I'll take the ice off now." Aaron told her before doing just that. Then he stood and made his way back into the kitchen, only to return a couple of minutes later with a first aid kit.

"Lets see what they've got in here…" He trailed off, setting in on the table and sifting through it. "Here we are." He pulled out an elasticated bandage. He gently lifted Emily's foot off of the chair and kneeled in front of her, setting her foot on his lap.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Emily joked with a smile and Aaron scoffed.

"Of course I do." He said as he began wrapping the bandage around her foot and then took it up to her mid-calf. "Feel better?" He asked her once he was done. Emily nodded thankfully.

"Yeah, thanks Aaron." He bundled up the jockey silks and set them on the chair where Emily's foot previously rested, to make a cushion then placed her foot back on it again. Then he drew a chair up next to Emily and sat down, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"You really scared me today." He told her quietly.

"I'm sorry." She turned her head to look him in the eye.

"It wasn't your fault." Aaron shook his head, "But don't do it again." He scolded softly, tapping her nose with his forefinger earning a giggle.

"I'll do my best." She promised and he took that knowing that it was going to be the best they could get in their line of work.

* * *

"**Face your past without regret, handle your present with confidence, prepare for your future without fear. Keep faith and drop the fear, don't believe your doubts and don't doubt your beliefs. Life is wonderful if you know how to live."**

**- Unknown**

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**Should I stop it there and start on the sequel, or one more chapter? Better review and tell me or I will do whatever the majority says. I have to say that the sequel is going to be kickass even if I say so myself haha:)**

**It's going to be a creepy case fic and I pretty much have most of it planned out already, just got some minor details to go over. Anyone interested? **

**I just have to say that I'm surprised how much the snarky comments that Emily and Aaron sound just like me lol. So if you haven't PM'd me yet and found out for yourself, this is what the majority of my conversations sound like;)**

**Review and tell me what you want me to do and the quicker it'll be up!**

**Adios Amigos,**

**Lovelyja**


	7. Chapter 7

**So here we are at the last chapter of our Life's Trials journey. Aww sad? Not to worry, I'm starting to write the next in this AU Universe so don't fret!:o)**

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Chapter 7

"So you put the chocolate _and_ marshmallow between two gram crackers?" Reid asked, a confused look on his face.

"Look, you do it like this." JJ said, taking a metal skewer from the pile on the floor and sticking it through the marshmallow. "Then you roast it on the fire." She shrugged and handed it back to a still confused-looking Reid. The team – including Ray and Rita – were siting on logs gathered around the fire pit round the back of the team's cabin. They were content listening to the wildlife surrounding them and the crackling of the fire.

"I don't get it." Reid shrugged, looking at the smore in his hand.

"What's not to get?" JJ asked from her seat on the log beside him. "Just eat it." She took one look at Reid's face and pushed it towards his mouth, getting marshmallow all over his face.

"JJ!" Reid complained and tried to wipe it off the best he could.

"Dang, man." Morgan mocked, "Next time just do as the woman says." He said and patted his younger friend on the shoulder as everybody laughed.

"With that," Rita announced and stood up, "I think I'm heading off to bed. You guys stay out here as long as you like. Coming Ray?" She turned to her husband who grunted in return and followed her lead back to their house.

"I'm beat, too." Rossi agreed, standing from his seat. "Anyone else?" Morgan, JJ and Reid stood up too, leaving Hotch and Prentiss.

"Don't hurt yourself on the way back in." Morgan winked at Emily who scowled in return.

"Girl pants." She muttered as he walked away.

"I heard that!" He called back cheerily, which she chose to ignore. Now that they were alone Aaron thankfully wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she cuddled into his side, one arms wrapped around his middle. Emily sat and watched the flames dancing in a burst of red, orange and yellow in the pit. Aaron couldn't help but watch the reflection in her dark eyes.

"What?" Emily asked when she finally realized that he had been staring at her.

"You're so beautiful, Emily Prentiss." He told her as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. The woman beside him looked down at her hands in her lap and blushed.

"I think you're a little biased." She muttered. Aaron didn't reply to her comment, instead lifted her chin so she faced him and pulled her into a gentle kiss. When Aaron pulled back from the kiss he spoke, "That doesn't mean it's not true." Emily sighed and leaned back into him again, settling her head on his shoulder. They sat there for a while, comfortable in each other's company. Aaron looked down at Emily and saw that her eyes were drifting shut.

"Come on." He said, shaking her shoulder gently, "I think it's time to go to bed." Emily groaned and shuffled closer to him.

"Can't we just stay here?" She mumbled to which Aaron raised an eyebrow.

"Seriously?" He asked, amused. "Come on." He stood up so she had to sit up on her own on the log.

"Carry me?" Emily looked up at Aaron, not entirely sure that she could make it to her bunk.

"Only to the door." He gave in and pulled her up into his arms, being careful not to jolt her ankle too much. Aaron easily supported the woman's weight in his arms and was soon standing her up outside the cabin door on the porch. Emily hissed as her bad foot hit the ground by mistake in her fatigue.

"I'm taking you to the doctors tomorrow to get that looked at. It could be worse than we thought – and they'll give you crutches so you don't have to walk everywhere." Aaron insisted, causing the brunette beside him to roll her eyes dramatically.

"It's fine, just help me to my bunk unless you want me to fall asleep here and then you'll have to carry me in anyway." She grinned cheekily and this time it was Aaron's turn to roll his eyes.

"Come here." He said, lifting her arm around his neck and supporting her weight as she hobbled in.

"Shit." Emily whispered quietly so she wouldn't wake anyone up.

"What?" Hotch looked at her.

"I can't get onto my bunk." She said, pointed at her bed, which was above JJ's and needed a ladder to get into.

"I'll switch." Aaron offered, wanting to make it easier for the woman who sighed thankfully.

"Thanks Aaron." She whispered as he helped her over to his bed and helped her get settled. Just before he left to get into Emily's bunk he drew her in to a loving kiss. "Night." She whispered as he walked away.

JJ smiled as she shut her eyes sleepily. She would have words with Emily tomorrow.

* * *

"Bye." Rita gave Emily a hug goodbye and helped her into the passenger seat of one of the SUV's.

"Thanks so much, I had such a great time." Emily said with a smile as she tried to get herself comfortable in the seat.

"I'm glad, I hope you can come again soon." Rita smiled warmly and the profiler smiled back in gratitude as the older woman shut the car door for her. Aaron managed to swing getting an SUV for him and Emily alone once he told the others that he would be taking Emily to her doctor himself since she couldn't drive.

JJ sighed as Hotch and Prentiss' SUV pulled away meaning she'd have to talk to Emily another time.

It was a cramped and uncomfortable ride back to DC for Emily and surprised herself for the first time in her life by actually wanting to go to her doctor – It was common knowledge in the office that if she ever got an injury on the job she'd shrug it off to prevent from going to one of those sterile places. Hotch looked over at her.

"How's the foot?" The brunette beside him rolled her eyes.

"It's fine, Aaron." She received a scornful look from her boss. "Fine, it hurts like hell, make you feel any better?" She smirked.

"What that it hurts like hell, or that you're actually telling me?" He joked and Emily chuckled with him.

"I take your point. How much longer will it be 'till we get there? If I sit here any longer the cramp in my other leg will render me completely useless."

"We're just around the corner. And hey, you're not completely useless – you can do paperwork." The corners of his mouth tugged up into a smile that Emily has seen a lot of in the past week. Before she could say anything else he pulled up outside a professional-looking building. "Here we are."

* * *

"I still don't see why they had to put it into a cast, though." Emily grumbled as Aaron held open her apartment door as she hobbled through on her crutches.

"It's only a soft cast." He repeated, "You can get it taken off in a week and you'll have full mobility in about three weeks." Emily sighed in frustration.

"I know, but it still sucks." She concluded as she plopped down on the couch.

"Do you want me to get you anything?" Aaron offered kindly.

"Uhh… I'm good, thanks. Don't you have to get home to Jack?" She questioned.

"No, Jessica's got him until after work tomorrow, so I am at your disposal." He held his arms out and smiled.

"You don't have to." Emily shook her head.

"Ah, but I want to." He countered, leaning over the back of the couch and pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Come here." Emily said cheekily and pulled him over the back of the couch and laughed as he slumped in the cushions where they snuggled together for hours, reveling in the company of the other.

* * *

**Love is a mixed tape filled with fast songs to get your heart going, slow songs to help that perfect moment last just a little longer. It's filled with songs that have those nice little lines of lyrics that you memorize. It's filled with songs that you can relate to when you're happy or sad, songs that fuel your anger. Love is a mixed tape that screams for you when you can't, love is a mixed tape, an assortment of different emotions, good or bad. Love does suck, love is great, love is like a mixed tape filled with everything you love.**

**- Ritu Ghatourey**

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**I'm not completely sure how well this chapter turned out, so please drop me a review and let me know:) The more happy I am with this the quicker I'll start the sequel...;) Just so you don't miss it if you aren't following me as an author I will post another chapter on here when it's up:)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Adios Amigos!:)**


	8. Chapter 8

**just to let you know that a one-shot following on from this story has been posted, so go check it out! I'm currently working on the sequel.**

**Gem x**


	9. Sequel now up!

**The sequel to Life's Trials is finally up, so go check it out!**

**Read and Review!**


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